Brick Walls
by Pineapple's Fidelity
Summary: wip - in which naraku is defeated, the sacred jewel is vengeful, and she is rescued by an alien source only to get caught running from another battle she has no desire to face.
1. Prologue

**title: **brick walls  
**fandom: **inuyasha/transformers - bayverse  
**rating: **t  
**genre: **adventure/mystery  
**characters: **sango, barricade, frenzy mentioned others

* * *

**prologue**

Kagome knelt in the dirt peering down into the now empty darkness of her once time-traveling well. Now, it was simply an empty and dried up husk holding secrets to perhaps never see daylight again. And her friends, her second family, stuck on the other side.

_Except for one..._

The girl shook her head trying not to cry.

It wasn't fair. It wasn't supposed to be like _this. _This wasn't how things _worked. _After years of struggle they deserved happy ending not some half-broken mockery.

A voice or intuition she had gained whispered that it hadn't always been this way. There had been one until everything had changed.

Kagome could see it in her minds eye like a movie playing. The sacred jewel was supposed to only take her to it's strange dimension. The details became vague after but the reincarnated princess knew she escaped somehow and though afterward she was separated from those she fought and nearly died with Kagome knew she came back. That they became and ended whole, together.

The brown-eyed girl slowly rested her forehead atop her hands which gripped the lip of the well. Silent tears dripped off into the darkness.

Instead of what was supposed to be, the jewel had taken them all away. Everyone but one had come back. And now she was separated from her broken family with no guarantee of ever returning.

_This isn't how it's supposed to be..._


	2. Chapter 1

**chapter one**

She didn't know where she was or what she was. Let alone who. Was she even a she? Perhaps, she was nothing. Nothing but a presence. The biting, tearing, and growling voices that shared the space-void?-with her agreed. Ne dropped the pronoun-possibly feminine the voices did not say-and instead thought of nirself as the presence.

The presence drifted away from the others. Unsure if they helped or hindered ne. Ne couldn't remember.

The other presences dark and starving with the need to take followed, yowling in silence. The presence was most certain that they took from ne, dangerously, and so fled.

It was like a hunt. Something ne distantly remembered but could not put a picture or feeling to. Ne remembered that this wasn't how they usually occurred. Was ne always chased? No, ne was pretty sure ne usually did that part. The presence did not stop to find out.

A boundary-was this what warmth was? It felt something like home-appeared suddenly and harshly between the two forces. The others screamed rage and defiance but nonetheless did not cross.

_Sango..._

Dry and rustling, like leaves. The presence tossed off the thought. What were leaves, anyway?

_Sango._

Ne wondered whowhatwhere was 'sango.'

_SANGO_!

A cacophony of voices that were none of the same of the dry one. Separate from the warmth and _known!_

_"Sango! I am Sango!" _she thought the tug of the worried tone bringing full force whowhat.

How had she forgotten? How could she had forgotten? Careless. A shameful action. To have allowed so thoughtlessly for herself to be ripped away. With determination the presence became a form. A woman. A warrior woman with brown eyes and hair. She could not feel, see, hear, taste or smell, even with this change. All she understood was darkness and warmth.

_"Where am I?" _

Had that been a sound? A thought? Sango could not percieve or tell anything but emptiness. It was a confusing vortex forever threatening to pull her identity away.

The warmth around her deadened the tug. Dulling the urge to forget.

_"Where?"_

_Me..._

Sad and soft the autumn voice registered to her. The warmth nudged bringing remembrance and realization in a final touch. She saw the jewel open like a void pull herself and all she loved in. Sango remembered a cave with a disturbing fossil. A priestess merged with demons. She understood instantly. She was in the jewel and in whatever domain the dead priestess Midoriko commanded.

If she were, however, where were the others? Sango felt panic cut through the numbness.

_"Alive? Ok? WHERE?!"_

The priest, the preistess, dead boy, half-demon, and demons. They had to be alright!

_They're fine. Safe. Out of the greedy grasp of the jewel._

_"Why? Me? Here."_

Sango thought she felt herself sigh frustratedly. Why did she speak like one of the brain sick? She tried again but only managed an, _"Leave?"_

_You can barely understand where you are. Let alone what the where is_, explained the voice kindly. _What you perceive and what is 'real' may not be true here._

Something-maybe not-brushing solemnly across her shoulder. A hand?

_You cannot leave. _

Anger and defiance. This time Sango's. Who could tell her what to do? No one! If she wanted to leave this cursed place and return to where she belonged then she would! No powers would stop her. She had cheated death and would cheat the sacred jewel as well!

_You fell_, countered the voice, Midoriko. _You lost a piece of yourself. Once it has a hold of you the sacred jewel will never let you go._

Sango felt the regret and grief in this statement. A bitter concoction of truth. Briefly the sight of Midoriko's frozen face flashed across her mind. The expression had seemed peaceful but what had been the priestesses true thoughts? Probably more close to this than the tales of righteousness.

_"No," _she refuted with ragged despair. Some acceptance lingered on the edges-for she had fought for her friends to be happy and safe and had succeeded-but it was torn open by the pain of lost love.

Silence.

_Perhaps..., _Midoriko mused. Sango did not hear.

It was silent for a long time.

In moments or maybe centuries (time was quite the fickle thing here) Midoriko's voice came again.

_Here! _

No other warning came after before Sango was _shoved _

Maybe she cried out maybe she didn't, Sango still could not tell what was and wasn't, but for certain she fell. And fell, and fell, past warmth and familiar darkness full of shrieking voices and into a shocking, alien, _cold._

"Who? What! Where?!" Sango called into this new place which felt distinctly cold, but not dark, and had the distinct taste and bite of metal.

A great presence-or was it many? nontheless it was _large_-loomed-_loomed_ how did in loom in nothing?-over her focusing its unfamiliar attention upon her. It felt cool and slick against her. It _frightened_ Sango.

She tried to flee. To run to hide. But there was nowhere to go infinite presence. Where in the jewel had empty spaces and full spaces that constantly shifted between voids, demons, greed, and Midoriko this thing was all and everywhere. No where was empty. No space to hide. She dashed this way and that anyway because she just couldn't _be here._

Tendrils reached out and grasped her. Perhaps her arm, her leg, maybe even her body or neck. Sango did not know. Whatever form she had held in the jewel was gone in this place. Uncaring the tendrils reached _in _to her drilling and burrowing. Sango jerked and would have gasped were she still human. She jerked herself away, folding in and out. She pulled at all her thoughts and feelings and memories of herself pulling them in tight. Sango would not lose herself, not again. Not again! The tendrils went on and on, deeper and deeper. Even as Sango thrashed and wailed, in the way that formless things did.

_"Away! Away! AWAY!" _she shrieked throwing herself at in in mental blows against the cold presence.

Hard and cold invasions went on until-

-Sango gasped as if coming up for air. She stared wordless at her hands. _Hands. _She could see? Feel? She ran those same hands over herself. Shoulders, arms, chest, stomach, legs, feet, head, hair. Everything was there was flesh was _real._

She glanced around the barren _metal_ landscape. Where was she now?

Thundering steps drew her attention. Her head snapped up and she gaped at the monstrous metal figure before her. Her bind stuttered to a halt stuck on _how._

Then, without waiting for anything else from the being, Sango scrambled to her feet falling into a fighting position. She was clotheless, weaponless, and a tenth of this creatures size but she'd be damned if she went down without a fight.

Unperturbed the metal thing reached down a hand to grab her just as she reared back to punch it. Then she was in its hold and a light exploded behind her eyes.

Sango fell limp a panic building in her when the creature spoke a sharp and biting tone just like the metal it was.

_**"You are far from where you should be, Lost One,"**_it seemed to hum this. _**"I brought us here so you would understand. Still, it seems it is hard on you mind."**_Was the creature worried?

It opened it's hand and she rolled limply in its palm.

_**"I cannot make it any better for you I apologize."**_

Sango attempted to say something in response and failed. The creature hummed in response. Sango tensed waiting for pain but it seemed that if it didn't speak at her the throbbing in her head would not come.

Slowly, her limbs came under her control again and she pushed herself up. The metal creature, who she now realized had the shape of a man (excepting his extra arms and eyes), did not harry her. Instead, it watched curiously with a patient air.

_"I am Sango," _she rasped unable to get it out any louder.

**"I know, I saw."**

The slayer's sheer force of will kept her from falling over when pain exploded inside her head once more. Her heart thumped erratically.

She forced herself to speak even though the pain was not quite gone, _"How much? How much do you know?"_

It only hummed.

Before she could demand an answer of it, it had invaded her mind after all, it spoke, _**"Come. There is not much time now. If you ever wish to see the world again, you will go now while other of your kind meddle."**_

There was no time for answers or questioning after that. With a grace that defied it's size the metal man moved walked across the plains. All Sango could do was cling desperately to what was maybe a finger. A moment later she was gently deposited beside...a well? No, the well!

_"It's-!" _

_**"Not quite."**_

The slayer grit her teeth and clung to the wooden lip. It could've been the pain of its voice or the pain of recollection that caused the reaction

_**"I knew you would understand the purpose of this though,"**_it explained. A moment later it added, _**"I'm sorry."**_

Sango stiffened and gave a slow nod. As if to assure herself. She did not look back at the metal creature.

_"It will take me away?"_

**_"Yes."_**

_"To them?"_

_**"I don't know. My power is limited in its reach."**_

Sango took a breath. Hesitated. Here was a chance. But staying was a chance all of it own...

The wind picked up whipping her hair about her face. Sango brushed it away without much care staring at the well. If she went she went back to a world where things made sense. But mostly likely not to her friends. If she stayed perhaps she could search for another way? One more certain?

The creature lifted its head to watching the now roiling clouds. Lighting whipped across the sky and thundered rumbled across the desolate plain. Its eyes narrowed feeling the inevitable pressure that came just as the humans meddling before widening. The metal creature moved swiftly to crouch next to Sango.

_**"Quickly! You must go!"**_it shouted. **"Now!"**

With a single digit it gave Sango a forceful push. A spark transpired between them as Sango's back arched and she gave a piercing cry before tumbling down into the well-

-Sango gasped again with pain.

Her hands flew to her chest, now clothed in rough cloth, only to stay centimeters above whatever wound was there, hands flexed in agony. A strangled cry escaped her. There was shouts of strange and garbled words. Some human another oddly familiar in its screeching metallic tones. Light and sight slowly swam into focus. A ceiling with pale light shone above her followed by a face.

"Collins! Stay with me, Collins!" shouted the face in sounds she had never heard before but nonetheless understood.

Concussive blasts that caused her to jerk and cry with fear echoed nearby. Screams of pain and shouted orders rang loud as had Sango fallen? What chaos, what nightmare? Who was the Collins?

Struggling to pull air into her lungs Sango felt consciousness leave her even as the man above begged her to stay.

* * *

**note: **I'm wondering if I should put the different points of places into different chapters. Anywho, how do y'all like this? Better? Worse? And no Sango is not dead. Since Sango, Midoriko, and the creature were never really 'speaking' in their realms or in japanese/english that's what the bold and italics and stuff is for. Also when Sango was thinking of herself as 'it' I used gender neutral pronoun ne so it would be less confusing instead of a bunch of it's.


	3. Chapter 2

Katherine Collins—Katie for short—started her life quietly. Where others came out screaming, eyes shut tight, mouths wide as air hit their lungs for the first time, and small hands inexorably fisted, Katherine came quietly with barely a peep to her name. Her small baby hands waved in protest and her mouth opened once or twice but she did not cry. Reasonably worried the doctors kept a special watch on her through the following to find she was nothing more than a healthy, albeit abnormally quiet, baby girl.

Katherine—who really preferred the sharp shortness of Katie—continued with this quietness on through childhood. Precocious and more than a little introverted she wasn't interested in games or others as she grew up. Instead, she could be found in the company of books and puzzles. Diagrams and little math doodles.

Friends did not come easy to her. In fact, she did not seem to want them and avoided contact as much as possible. Despite these precautions another child latched onto her and they formed a friendship of sorts. Later, on her seventeenth birthday, Katie told the only out of family party goer, her companion Hadley, that the reason she let him stick around was because he was the only one able to somewhat adequately challenge her mind. Hadley laughed and called her a liar. To his credit, he was right but Katie would never say otherwise.

Maturing into a young woman, Katie found herself floundering and her mind going tepid. Nothing _challenged_ her, at least, not for long. Everything from physics to simple mathematics held no puzzle for her. Once she solved one of their problems everything else was a simple reconfiguration.

She stumbled upon computer hacking quite by accident not much later and leapt on it with all the zeal of a starving predator.

Computers and their programs were always changing. They evolved faster and faster in their binary code as the technological advances of the age steamrolled down a steep hill. When one tactic maybe have worked a mere month ago may not now because of a simple twist of ones and zeroes. It was a logical, twisting, and ever evolving puzzle. Katie rather enjoyed puzzles.

The woman hadn't meant to stumble into illegal activities. Yet Katie had to admit that if she hadn't accidentally she would have, inevitably, gone willingly.

(And inevitably they would have found her.)

Outside of corporations and regulated networks was where the real challenge lied. Here, it was a jungle that had no rules. No specific parameters or lines of thinking. Everything was unique and new and when it wasn't she destroyed it before offering benign help to upgrade systems under a different guise.

It wasn't long before they crossed paths. A bored computer genius looking for something in zeroes and ones and a secret organization shrouded in mysterious binary code. Not that the Sector's place in the information highway had been suspect. In fact, its niche had been rather unassuming. Making the discovery and cracking open of the hidden egg all the more appealing. Appeal that immediately dried up upon the realization of what exact red line she had blazed a cross.

Katherine Collins, Katie for short, was no coward, however. She did not hide her trail and in slight fear waited for them to come. She doubted whatever she could come up with to cover her tracks would suffice, anyhow.

So, sipping her morning coffee three days later, Katie remained unruffled and unsurprised when black SUVs pulled up to her house and men in blacks suits knocked at her door. Her now housemate, Hadley, was rather shocked, however. Katie supposed the government men were also surprised when she told them, blithely and without introduction, "Oh, just hire me already." She rather surprised herself, in any case.

And so, she became employed to Sector Seven. A government organization that studied and worked understand, mostly how to destroy, an alien race. A metal alien race. A metal, walking computer equivalent, alien race. With codes and programs to crack that were just to die for.

Katherine couldn't have been any happier or challenged, even if she couldn't share a single bit with Hadley.

A few months into the job and Katie found herself getting a new house. Her lifetime companion and friend was not as accommodating to secrets. She felt a pang of regret she did not allow herself to recognize and only threw herself more into her work. Eventually, she simply moved to a permanent resident, usually reserved for scientists, beneath Hoover Dam. Effectively disappearing off the face of the planet.

Years into the gig and Katherine could proudly puff out her imaginary feathers and declare hacking the unhackable and bringing unimaginably important information to light.

This led to the young woman being present on one of the many 'animations' of everyday reverse engineered technology. Where, upon the subjugation of the subject, she would hack in and download all information from the creature she could (Some mechanism erased everything from the drone hard drives upon destruction.) for later analysis and decoding. Simple. The drones may have had strength and a highly packed punch given to them by their metal bodies but they never had weaponry. Their armor was laughably flimsy and they scared and went submissive surprisingly easy.

It should've been easy. It should've been quick. But it wasn't. The containment field that controlled the flow of Cube radiation failed. In a catastrophic overflow which threw everyone away from it a very much armed and very volatile drone was created. Before anyone could react, the animated computer tower shot holes into everyone within the room. Fatal wounds. All of them. Katherine Collins should have died.

Sango knew all this and more. Every experience and memory the woman had gone through was Sango's. Not to say the slayer understood most of it. A majority of modern technology was still beyond her. Although, the displaced slayer supposed she better get them within her understanding, and soon, or she wouldn't last much longer.

Sango sighed and turned away from her reflection in the bathroom mirror. It still baffled her how some woman years in the future could have her face. Her body. Excepting her various scars they were exactly the same. Right down to that small space on Sango's right upper eyelid that never seemed to grow any eyelashes. Grimacing Sango finished toweling off and dressed quickly. She didn't like thinking of the technically late Katherine. When she did she felt like one of the body snatching demons she had hunted once or twice. The life, what little one she had, of this woman had been fully taken over by her and was now bent to her will and wants. It made her feel guilty and ashamed. Sometimes, when the regret became strong enough, Sango half expected to hear Katherine's monotone shouting sharp rebukes and demands in her head.

It was actually surprising to Sango when none ever came.

Opening a cup of instant noodles—which she still had a habit of referring to as ninja food—Sango got some water from the bathroom sink and placed the styrofoam in a small microwave and carefully fumbling with the numbers.

Katherine had known what the numbers, letters, and sounds of English meant, her brain still held the memories of it as with everything else, but occasionally Sango's own mind overshadowed the original. Insisting it had no knowledge of the strange symbols. It was annoying and frustrating in equal parts. What if her mind were to slip while reading something important? It could mean something as benign as a wrong turn. Or detainment and possibly experimentation by Katherine's—technically Sango's—former employers.

Another explosive expulsion of air echoed from her as she watched the ramen cup spin round in the dingy machine.

Two months on the run in a world she barely knew while staying ahead of a government organization wasn't easy. Sure, Sango was used to traveling from her previous lifestyle but traveling and _running_ were two different things.

And, frankly, Sango wasn't sure how much longer she could go on without _some_ kind of help.

Sector Seven was hotter on her heels every day. They were ever dogged and ever persistent. She hardly spent a day in one place anymore and that edge was because of the same thing they so insistently chased her for.

_You always could..._

"No," she growled sharply in response. Oh so happy her friend decided to make an appearance once more after missing for weeks.

While she did not have Katherine's voice in her head she did have another. This one some after effect of filtering through what was known as the Cube.

Sango knew it by another name but it was beyond her ability to pronounce.

_Not for long, I assure you. The process of integration is going slowly, far slower than I'd like, but it should be complete within oh...several Earth weeks. You'll be understanding Cybernatrix and perhaps imitating the sounds within your vocal range in-_

"No!" Sango shouted standing abruptly. "I don't _want _to understand!" Her hands fisted themselves at her side as she began to pace the short length of the motel room. In the background the microwave beeped to declare it was finished. Sango barely heard it too caught up her in sudden mental storm.

The images from her journey in the Cube and the knowledge Katherine had cracked open from the frozen NBE-1 - another designation whispered at the edge of her mind in the form of glyphs which she brushed hastily away-had painted a picture of the Cybertronian race. At the moment, it wasn't so pretty. The slayer had no doubt that she would be forced into a side whether she liked it or not if she were discovered. All because of this...power that the stupid metal man had seen fit to bestow upon her. And the Voice. Thought she doubted the mental beings would be interested in that.

_I still don't understand your resistance. These things are a part of you. Why not use them to their extent? Ignoring them will not make them go away. If anything it will be much like burst dam if you were to ever use them again after a long period of abstinence. Practicing is your best bet and most advantageous. Surely, your warrior mind can see that? _

Another growl escaped her as she ran a hand through her hair. She did see how it could help her, if it were under control. But she felt she was doing just fine. She didn't need that kind of help. Besides, she especially didn't want to be dragged into another life long battle. Sango was, strangely, tired. She didn't want to run or fight anymore. Her mission to destroy Naraku was done. Her goal to revive her clan was dust. There was the possibility of Kagome but...to be so close to the others, yet so far? As well, she didn't want to drag into something so dangerous. It would be unfair to the kind girl.

_They will come, no matter how careful you are. You must know that. Sector Seven's files will not be safe from them. Especially yours_.

"So you say," muttered Sango, disbelief evident in her tone. "Who knows, maybe I'll die before they come."

_You're much too stubborn for that. Even under the tender mercies of that organization and feeling purposeless as you do, you're too stubborn to simply roll over and die. _

The voice sounded proud and bemused. Something that quirked at the corners of Sango's lips. She stubbornly forced it away.

"Maybe. What makes you so sure they'll come for me, anyway? They'll have the Cube someday." It was inevitable what was lost would become found. "All the knowledge they could want will be there and future generations. I can't do that, you know. Create new ones. I don't know why I'd be so prized."

_You're more important than you know, Sango. That value will only increase as time passes._

The response was melancholy and resigned. Something that put Sango on edge. The slayer bit her lip and finally removed her microwaved noodles from their prison at the behest of her stomach.

In silence she devoured the food with more gusto than the processed food probably deserved. After a few mouthfuls she paused holding her next one in the air. She stared at, and mostly through, the steaming noodles. Slowly, she lowered the mouthful. Sango wasn't stupid. Not in the least. She could put two and two together.

"Something is going to happen, isn't it? Something big. And soon."

A solemn stillness was her only answer.

"Huh. Maybe I'll get some help after all, if accidental."

Her tone was blasé but inside a nervous storm raged. Time would never be on her side she seemed. She continued to eat at slower pace.

If the Voice noticed her disquiet it did not comment.

(-)

Sango woke with a jerk. Her eyes snapped open as she rolled off the bed into a crouch. Slowly she reached under her pillow and pulled her weapon to bear while scanning the room. Nothing was different of out of place. Yet, _something _had woken her. She unclicked the safety on her handgun but stalking toward the window. Cautiously, in case there was actually a danger, Sango peered out the crack in the curtains. She didn't dare move them for a better view. Eyes narrowed to help see through the dark she stare while remaining motionless. Her vigilance was rewarded when shadow moved across the lot. They'd found her!

Scrambling immediately away from the window she hoped they had not seen her. Although, in all likelihood, they probably had with their night vision. In some ways the world was much safer than her time and in others it was only more dangerous.

She forced her breathing to remain slow and steady as she slipped into some dark and nondescript clothing. It would not do to panic at all. With that thought in mind her motions slowed in their franticness. Her warrior mind took over strategizing as she pulled her small bag of essentials from under the bed.

There was no back door out of this motel, she realized as she searched for an escape. Her breathing hitched slightly before returning to normal. There had to be an escape. There was an escape. She wouldn't go under the knife again. Ever. The hand on the gun gripped the metal more tightly in response to her resolve. Her brown eyes roved over the room once more. The door was out. As was the small bathroom window. She couldn't even fit out it. It was probably being watched anyway.

Deep breaths, she told herself. Deep breaths. In and out. In through the nose and out through the mouth. She had to remain calm. Panic was the enemy here.

An enemy that was slowly winning.

Every second that passed without a sound plan of action coming to mind caused Sango to feel more and more trapped. Helpless. And she _wasn't. _ She wasn't helpless. She refused to believe that she, cheater of death and sacred jewel pumped up demons, was helpless. Yet, in this situation, she was wasn't she? The cold tendrils of panic began to reach into her mind then. There was nowhere to go. To run or hide.

Her breath hissed out between her clenched teeth as she cursed violently. The bite and ferocity of the words was not lost by the fact she whispered them. If anything the hissed intent made it all the more ominous. Unfortunately, it didn't change the situation with its wordly powers. Or make Sango any more confident. People only resorted to words when they had no action to take.

The ear-splitting whine of a megaphone being turned on broke into her thoughts. Sango's head snapped over to the window as if she could peer through the curtains and see the man outside. Only one of Sector Seven's agents had such a need for show.

"Alright, we know yer in there. Jus' come out nice n' easy an' there won't be any trouble, capiche?"

The magnified voice filtered easily through the thin, cheap glass of the window. The sounds not even muffled by the walls. Sango really couldn't have chosen a greater rat hole. She shook her head, both at herself and the man outside (though he couldn't see her). The phrase fish in the barrel came to mind and now she grimaced. Even if she were to hole up in here the siege that would follow wouldn't last more than seconds. The motel was a paper house compared to the might that waited outside like a predator ready to pounce.

"I'll even be generous an' give ya a ten second count. One." A long pause. "Two."

Sango opened her mouth as if in protest. Adrenaline, if it hadn't already raced through her veins, did now. Her heart hammered relentlessly against her breast bone trying to break free. Even a warrior such as herself could feel fear. Feel trapped. Just as now. Panic cupped the back on her eyes as her mind raced and raced and went nowhere useful. She stared out and through the wall to the small army waiting outside.

"Three."

Something glinted at her right.

She glanced down and swallowed harshly the action grating her dry throat. There was no way to force her way out with no arms but, perhaps, if she went on the offensive took some of them down…

_Could you really kill your fellow humans?_

Sango had almost thought the voice had abandoned her. It was a surprisingly devastating idea. Now that it spoke she could sense it simply had known its input was previously unwanted. She acknowledged that by considering the question carefully.

"Four."

Could she? She'd sworn and worked so hard to protect her fellows in a lifetime passed. It was ingrained in her, a silent oath to protect the weak against the unfairly strong. To uphold a code of ethics within a somewhat festered society. Sango heaved a sigh. It was different now, though, wasn't it? There were no demons to slay but in the hearts of others. Something she had no skill at (failure with her brother being proof enough). Still, she thought with certainty, she couldn't just throw it all to the wind. Not even now.

"No." A self-depreciating smile stretched across her face. "But I'm not exactly human anymore, am I?"

_More human than they, I would think_, replied the voice philosophically.

"Five."

_There's only one option left to you, then. It will not harm the humans but for a burn or two. Short out their weapons and tech then you can make a run for it._

Sango shook her head obstinately.

"I don't have it under control," she argued. "Besides, I don't I could access it in a panic like this."

_I told you to practice, didn't I? Your shortcoming is no one's fault but your own._

Air hissed out from between her teeth her ire rising more quickly than it normally would. She shook her head violently as if to dispel the voice and snapped, "Is it so wrong for me to remain as human as I can? I didn't ask for that…that _curse_!"

"Six."

_You don't have a choice right now. _The tone in which the voice imparted this was terribly forlorn and sympathetic. Sango didn't want sympathy. Didn't want the voice to _understand._ It was hard to be angry in the face of that. Hard to think that whatever that understanding person or entity asked wasn't the good or right choice.

"Seven."

The woman wanted to cry. To scream. To rage. She allowed herself none of this. She would stay strong a steel will. She could do this, she affirmed to herself. It didn't stop her from shaking.

_I'll be _there, it assured her. _I will not let you lose yourself. _

"Eight."

A shaky breath and she dropped the gun. It would be useless weight, anyway. She inhaled slowly and deeply diving into an imperfect meditative state—there was no way she could fully reach it in her current state.

"Nine."

"Can't be a weenie," she murmured encouragingly to herself, borrowing a word she had heard Kagome use.

"Ten-"

Then with a whisper of luck from the Voice she plunged into that well of power nestled within herself and lost her world to blazing blue.

* * *

**notes: **barricade may not show up for another chapter, at least, maybe two. also if this seems forced it's because in some parts it was. *stage whispers* if you need a beta i'm open for beta business kay thanks


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